Obama’s black education initiative draws cheers, brickbats
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| President Barack Obama signs the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans Executive Order in the Oval Office. The White House |
President Obama on Thursday signed an executive order launching a White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African-Americans, to be housed in the Education Department. The election-year move was welcomed by leaders in the black community but criticized by conservative groups.
“In the less than 60 years since the Brown v. Board of Education decision put America on a path toward equal educational opportunity, America's educational system has undergone a remarkable transformation,” Obama wrote. “However, substantial obstacles to equal educational opportunity still remain in America's educational system. African-Americans lack equal access to highly effective teachers and principals, safe schools, and challenging college-preparatory classes, and they disproportionately experience school discipline and referrals to special education.”
To help remedy such disparities, the initiative, consisting of an executive director, a President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African-Americans and an interagency working group, will aim for “increasing general understanding of the causes of the educational challenges faced by African-American
